02:33 - VIGJust sayin' I remember nikarg's Sodom review on the front page, that album was like 30 years old

02:27 - ScreamingSteelUSTechnically, Che's Manunkind review was too old to be featured on the front page. That was a special exception; usually, we prefer to keep our reviews within three-to-four months, with six months as an absolute cutoff.

02:14 - VIG@Radu Of course! I don't think it's too old to be featured on the front page. Look at Che's Manunkind review

00:09 - RaduPPublished a review for an album that's a bit too old to be featured on the front page, but you guys will read it, right? [link]

01. Luxferre02. Let My People Be!03. Of War04. Antigod05. For A Thousand Years06. The Shadow Of The Sword07. In The Deep08. Mother Night09. Pagan Trance10. In Gold We Trust11. Soul Invictus12. The Truth Is Marching On

It takes an enormous amount of talent to be able to churn out album after album containing a similar number of songs of similar length, arrangements and structure and to keep the listener interested, especially since the last album of this somewhat unified dynasty is the best one in the last fifteen years. Passage, Eternal, Reign of Light, Solar Soul, and now Lux Mundi - if you look closely, you will notice that 100% of all the songs from these five albums basically have the same length - from 3:12 to 4:55. No shorts, no longs, basically no variety - no guitar solos, no long instrumental passages, no intros, no outros. Metal music stripped down to its essence - verse, chorus, bridge, rinse, repeat.

At first sight, or, to be precise, at first listen, Samael made their new album using the same template as usual. But this time the result is exceptionally good. It takes enormous skill to compose twelve songs of similar structure and make them all sound different and unique. And incredibly catchy too, if that is possible with harsh vocals and customarily hateful anti christian lyrics. Those Swiss heretics are as hell-bent on hating religion as usual, but the whole background to their hate, all those marching rhythms, intricate and inspired keyboard passages and abrasive rasps mix together to form some of the nicest surprises of this year so far. Their best since Passage.

This is undoubtedly a good record, probably better than "Above", it's mid-paced, martial, powerful, yeah... But my impression is that Samael have run out of original/fresh ideas after "Reign Of Light" (which was truly excellent), and since "Solar Soul" they've been rehashing the same formula again and again and again...

"Ceremony" and "Passage" were true masterpieces and "Eternal" was the ideal evolution towards a lighter (formally and conceptually speaking) and more electronica-based metal. "Reign Of Light" brought nothing new to the table but it was still a huge improvement on Samael's experimental ground: the band just wanted to explore further their new identity and they did it wonderfully.

Then they went downhill. "Solar Soul", while being not bad (there are still some great tunes), is only an inoffensive recycling of the previous works; it sounded great at first, but became stagnating after few listens. "Above" drastically focused on impact with a huge wall of sound, but again, it was nothing more than a digression. Still not bad, imho, but far from the band's true potential.

Now we have this "Lux Mundi", and once more there's nothing new under the sun (err, whatever). I really appreciate the partial return to their roots with a Passage-like mood and atmosphere, but hey, isn't this just a nostalgic recall? Plus, "Solar Soul"'s and "Reign Of Light"'s vibes are always there, giving the songs a very martial (and overall predictable) structure, which we've already heard from Samael so many many many times before. Come on guys, that's the third album in a row lacking new ideas. This shit is good, but that's not enough coming from a band like you.
I know you can do better, I know you can still DARE.

7,5/10 but I give it an 8 just because it's better than "Above".

Loading...

MechanisTAccount deleted

02.05.2011 - 18:10

MechanisTAccount deleted

Written by Guest on 29.04.2011 at 16:48

This is undoubtedly a good record, probably better than "Above", it's mid-paced, martial, powerful, yeah... But my impression is that Samael have run out of original/fresh ideas after "Reign Of Light" (which was truly excellent), and since "Solar Soul" they've been rehashing the same formula again and again and again...

"Ceremony" and "Passage" were true masterpieces and "Eternal" was the ideal evolution towards a lighter (formally and conceptually speaking) and more electronica-based metal. "Reign Of Light" brought nothing new to the table but it was still a huge improvement on Samael's experimental ground: the band just wanted to explore further their new identity and they did it wonderfully.

Then they went downhill. "Solar Soul", while being not bad (there are still some great tunes), is only an inoffensive recycling of the previous works; it sounded great at first, but became stagnating after few listens. "Above" drastically focused on impact with a huge wall of sound, but again, it was nothing more than a digression. Still not bad, imho, but far from the band's true potential.

Now we have this "Lux Mundi", and once more there's nothing new under the sun (err, whatever). I really appreciate the partial return to their roots with a Passage-like mood and atmosphere, but hey, isn't this just a nostalgic recall? Plus, "Solar Soul"'s and "Reign Of Light"'s vibes are always there, giving the songs a very martial (and overall predictable) structure, which we've already heard from Samael so many many many times before. Come on guys, that's the third album in a row lacking new ideas. This shit is good, but that's not enough coming from a band like you.
I know you can do better, I know you can still DARE.

7,5/10 but I give it an 8 just because it's better than "Above".

You know, you've got everything here for a nice little review. Why not giving it a go after the 3 month guest review restriction wears off?

Loading...

KenosAccount deleted

02.05.2011 - 18:28

KenosAccount deleted

Written by Guest on 02.05.2011 at 18:10

You know, you've got everything here for a nice little review. Why not giving it a go after the 3 month guest review restriction wears off?

That's not a bad idea, but my english is pretty lame.
By the way I've just written and published a review of LM on another website (in my first language of course); guess I should only translate it decently...

Loading...

MechanisTAccount deleted

02.05.2011 - 18:32

MechanisTAccount deleted

Written by Guest on 02.05.2011 at 18:28

Written by Guest on 02.05.2011 at 18:10

You know, you've got everything here for a nice little review. Why not giving it a go after the 3 month guest review restriction wears off?

That's not a bad idea, but my english is pretty lame.
By the way I've just written and published a review of LM on another website (in my first language of course); guess I should only translate it decently...

Your english is fine and, if I may, pretty badass. Your review will totally be worth checking out, since you've got so much emotion vested on it.

Loading...

KenosAccount deleted

02.05.2011 - 18:44

KenosAccount deleted

Written by Guest on 02.05.2011 at 18:32

Written by Guest on 02.05.2011 at 18:28

Written by Guest on 02.05.2011 at 18:10

You know, you've got everything here for a nice little review. Why not giving it a go after the 3 month guest review restriction wears off?

That's not a bad idea, but my english is pretty lame.
By the way I've just written and published a review of LM on another website (in my first language of course); guess I should only translate it decently...

Your english is fine and, if I may, pretty badass. Your review will totally be worth checking out, since you've got so much emotion vested on it.

Hey, thanks mate.
I'll wait for this restriction to wear off then; meanwhile I'll try to scribble down a few lines...

"Above" was a disappointment to me so I was a bit sceptical of this album but... It turned out to be quite good. True, they got nothing new to offer but most of the songs are satisfying. There is no use waiting for a new "Passage" so why not enjoy this one?

----
"And we are not who we think we are
We are who we're afraid to be"
- Lux Occulta "The Opening of Eleventh Sephirah"

Passage was awesome. I prefer Above to anything since... so we'll see 'bout this one.

----
get the fuck off my lawn.

Loading...

bluegreengodAccount deleted

14.06.2011 - 08:46

bluegreengodAccount deleted

I haven't listened to these guys for like 10 or 12 years, maybe longer and seem to remember them being a black metal band. From what I've heard of this one it's really good, probably better than the old stuff.

I like their experimental Industrial side. And while they did everything perfectly up until Solar Soul this here just does not stand out. I know that they wanted to continue their Industrial style after Above again but I guess they lost something on the way to this. It's not memorable except for 2-3 tracks. I don't know what happened.